Keep your brain fit now

SOUTH BEND Â? Fifty years ago, Dr. Gary Small says, we called it senility and thought it was a normal part of aging.

Today the brain researcher tells people they can take charge of their brainÂ?s health before or during their senior years. TheyÂ?re wise to do so as early as possible Â? even while theyÂ?re young.

Â?Unfortunately, the trend has been to do too little too late,Â? says Small, a psychiatrist at the University of California Los Angeles, where he directs the Memory and Aging Research Center.

For good brain health, he prescribes many of the things people do to avoid cancer and cardiac trouble. Also, keep your mind engaged and keep up your social connections.

Small uses brain scans to study how the brain can put off the effects of dementia and AlzheimerÂ?s disease as it ages. HeÂ?s also done pioneering work on the effects of computers and technology, documented in his book Â?iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind.Â?

He spoke in South Bend last fall, brought in by Memorial HospitalÂ?s new BrainWorks program.

If you do nothing in your life to help your memory, he warns, it can deteriorate.

The precursor of AlzheimerÂ?s disease is a series of so-called plaques and tangles that build up in the brain. They can affect cognitive function. Small says brain scans have found these plaques and tangles in people as young as their 40s.

But he says heÂ?s got proof that a brain can regain memory function at any age.

He spoke of a 46-year-old woman whoÂ?d suffered memory loss. After a two-week program of mental and physical exercise, the womanÂ?s memory improved 200 percent. Brain scans before and afterward found her brain was more efficient.

Naturally helpful

Here are the Â?big fourÂ? ways Small recommends to stave off brain deterioration:

Exercise your mind: Learning a foreign language is great. So are puzzles. Really, anything that engages your mind can help, Small says. The key is to find something you enjoy. Studies show that the brain can become more efficient as it practices a mental exercise.

HeÂ?s found that surfing the Internet could be especially good for an aging brain.

In a study he led, he found that doing an Internet search can activate more parts of the brain than just reading Â? but only if the person has experience with the Internet.

He studied 24 people between ages 55 and 76, split into two groups. One half had no Internet experience. The other half did.

He watched the MRI scans of the subjectsÂ? brains as they did Internet searches. While laid up inside of the MRI tunnel, they wore special goggles through which they viewed a computer screen and used a control button at their hands.

He says the less-experienced group may have activated less of their brains because they didnÂ?t quite grasp the strategies needed for an Internet search, which is common while learning a new activity.

Small cautions that folks need to strike a balance with the technology that inundates them today, especially young people who, for proper brain growth, need face-to-face communication and outdoor play. Sometimes, he says, the best e-mail message is, Â?LetÂ?s talk.Â?

Reduce stress: Laboratory mice under chronic stress have been shown to have impaired memory and fewer hippocampus neurons, Small says.

In one of the local audiences, someone asked what affect multitasking has on the brain. Small said folks can build up the skills to do it. But multitasking puts the mind in a constant state of partial attention, which can be stressful to the brain.

Stay physically active: Physical exercise, he says, is a Â?very powerful way to protect the brain.Â? One study, he says, found that a daily 10-minute brisk walk can lower a personÂ?s AlzheimerÂ?s risk.

Eat a healthy diet: Small speaks of eating foods with antioxidants and Omega 3 acids, along with the just-right number of calories. Avoid the processed foods that can cause your blood sugar to spike, he says.

Researcher David Snowdon found a strong connection between a healthy heart and a healthy mind. A good cardiovascular system keeps the brain well supplied with oxygen and nutrients.

Also, Small says, social interactions, positive outlook and spirituality contribute to good brain health. Getting proper sleep is Â?huge,Â? though the body doesnÂ?t need as much sleep as it ages. One study found that a visit to the doctor, if itÂ?s a good doctor, can have a positive, reassuring affect on the patient.

Drug therapy

Research into drug therapy for AlzheimerÂ?s is showing some promise, but lots of questions remain, Small says. He feels that one day drugs could control the disease as they do high cholesterol today.

Anti-inflammatories are among the drugs being studied. In no way does it mean you should go out and start taking them. In fact there are several drugs, and it takes careful trial and error to find the best ones for you, he says. A drug may help one patient but cause cardiac trouble in another.

Some drugs slow the brainÂ?s decline. If you stopped using them, the decline would quicken, he says.

Some drugs can help with the behavioral problems that can arise when a patient has dementia, reducing the time a personÂ?s caregiver must spend. That, he says, may alleviate the depression that strikes 50 percent of caregivers for people with dementia.